Experiment research on a new shearer drum

To improve the cutting efficiency and the lump coal percentage of the shearer drum, a new shearer drum with variable diameter vanes was developed according to the characteristic (good at compression resisting, not good at tension resisting) of coal and similarity theory. At the same time, the analogy coal wall was developed according to the similarity theory. And then, the cutting tests were carried out on the cutting testbed of coal and rock for the new shearer drum and an existed drum. To understand both the advantages and disadvantages of the two drums, test parameters such as the cutting specific consumption, the load fluctuation, and the lump coal percentage of the drums were compared based on the same rotary speed and the initial haulage speed. And the two drums had the same vane starts, the same pick arrangement, and the number of total picks. The results indicate that the cutting lump coal percentage of the new drum is better than the existed drum and the lump percentage of the new drum increases by 3% over the existed drum. At the same time, the cutting specific consumption of the drums is nearly the same, but the load fluctuation of the new drum is bigger.